Storytelling: a simple how to that will improve your business

Last week I was out for a run in the sun here in Barcelona. The sun was shining and the sky was that amazing blue we all imagine when we think of a beautiful day. While running, I love to listen to podcasts. And last week I was listening to the StartupCamp podcast by Dale Partridge —a podcast for aspiring entrepreneurs with helpful tips on how to build and run your business. Every week he interviews a new successful entrepreneur and this week Donald Miller from StoryBrand.com was on the show.

What Donald was talking about just hit me —well, to be more specific: the way he was talking about it, hit me. He was talking about Storytelling and how you and I can use his strategy to grow our businesses:

"Your brand is not th﻿e﻿ hero of the story. Your customer is."

— Donald Miller, in Your Brand Is Not The Hero

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Let me tell you a bit more.

The idea to use storytelling as a tool to improve your business is not new. I’ve heard and read about it many times before, but the way Donald talks about it was completely new to me.

STORYTELLING

Any person living in the Western world has probably been on the receiving side of storytelling sometime in their lives. Just turn on the television and flip the channels until you find the first movie that you come across. That’s storytelling.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about Storytelling in Marketing:

"Storytelling is increasingly used in advertising today in order to build customer loyalty. […] this marketing trend echoes the deeply rooted need of all humans to be entertained. Stories are illustrative, easily memorable, and allow any firm to create stronger emotional bonds with the customers.

[…] consumers want a more personal connection in the way they gather information. Our brains are far more engaged by storytelling than by cold, hard facts. When reading straight data, only the language parts of our brains work to decode the meaning. But when we read a story, not only do the language parts of our brains light up, but any other part of the brain that we would use if we were actually experiencing what we're reading about becomes activated as well. This means it's far easier for us to remember stories than hard facts.

In his free to download PDF: Your Brand Is Not The Hero*, Donald explains how he uses storytelling to improve his business. *TIP: Scroll down to Resources to find out how you can get the PDF as well.

Years ago Donald was looking for a way to simplify his marketing. And because he’s a writer, he’d been studying story for years and he knew it was the most powerful tool to compel a human brain. He wanted to tell a better story with his company, but needed a simple process to pull it off. So he created the 7-part framework that is now the foundation of StoryBrand. And the results were fantastic.

Here’s how the framework works:

7 BASIC ELEMENTS OF STORY

A character

Who has a problem

Meets a guide

With a plan

That call them to action

Outcome: A. SuccessB. Failure

For example:

You —the Conscious Entrepreneur that wants to take your business to the next level and make a bigger difference…

…but you have a problem with standing out from the crowd, attracting the right clients and growing your business. All the things that prevent you from make the difference that you’re looking for.

I'm Simon Droog, the founder of Atelier Pan and a self-taught brand and graphic designer. I have found out the hard way what works and what doesn’t work in graphic design and branding. I’ve been learning, experimenting and improving my skills for almost 10 years now and I have made mistakes. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. That’s why I am here to help you —so you don’t have to.

I offer my expertise as a brand designer to help you. I created a process that helps you to stand out from the crowd and attracting the right clients, so you can take your business to the next level and start making a difference.

In the workshop I’ll explain the Brand Boost Process to you and we’ll work together to set up your own Brand Boost Board.

Outcome:A. You’ll go home with: 1. A clear message that draws potential clients in and engages them. 2. A better grip on your brand (to help you make those difficult brand related decisions). 3. A personalised Brand Boost Board/Booklet. 4. A review of your website. We’ll have a look at your website together with the group and we’ll all give feedback (based on the 5 tips from my ebook: Bite-sized Brand Boost. Discover 5 FREE tips to attract attention with your website, and keep it). 5. Tips on how to proceed with positioning your brand after the Brand Boost Live﻿ workshop.

B. Do you want to keep struggling with your branding? If you don’t differentiate yourself from the rest, you won’t stand out from the crowd. If you don’t clarify your message, you’ll never attract the right clients you need to take your business to the next level and make the difference you’re looking for.

In the PDF, Donald explains more in-depth how these 7 plot points can be used as a filter for your messaging. You’ll be amazed at how each of these plot points help you clarify your messaging to customers. When there is clarity, customers are compelled and pay attention.

The key is clarity.

"Confuse, and you’ll lose."

— Donald Miller, in Your Brand Is Not The Hero

SHARE YOUR STORY(POINTS)

I’m curious about your story. Put the 7-part framework to use right away. Grab a piece of paper and write down a short sentence for each of the 7 bullets.

And share it below in the comments.

GOING FORWARD

How much is a confusing website costing you? How many opportunities are you leaving on the table?

If you're interested in attracting more attention with your website, grab your own copy of the Free ebook: Bite-sized Brand Boost right now.

Disclaimer: People will engage with your website more after you implement what you'll learn in the ebook.

StoryBrand also offers a Marketing Workshop that looks very interesting and promising. I’d love to take the workshop if it was a bit closer to home. Maybe that won’t be a problem for you. So if you’re interested, just take a look at what they are offering: StoryBrand Marketing Workshop. You can get their helpful PDF: 5 Things Your Website Should Include for free there as well. Update: They now offer three amazingly insightful free videos at 5minutemarketingmakeover.com instead.

I’m not affiliated with StoryBrand in any way —I’m just enthusiastic about their framework and I thought I’d share the concept with you, so you might profit from it as well.​